A widely misunderstood therapeutic approach. Some consider it a modern form of counselling, others an expensive agony aunt and by many a biproduct of cultural attitude to chasing the proverbial dream…
The truth couldn’t be more different.
Life Coaching has grown to be a hugely successful form of talking therapy, to the extent that it can help turn people’s lives around.
Often people that work with a Life Coach are lacking self-confidence and find themselves stuck in a routine or rut within their lives that brings no joy or excitement and instead builds self-doubt and uncertainty in how to move forward and find personal happiness and satisfaction.
My role is to reinstall an individual’s faltering confidence and ensure that they have it within themselves to live up to their potential using a framework of three key words;
Guidance
Providing the tools and support clients to broaden their perspective and open their mind – helping them gain clarity and understand their true obstacles.
Empowerment
Meaning that it’s down to the individual to realise their own self-worth and self-belief that has for one reason or another diminished.
Improvement
In the sense that the individual will go from where they are now to where they want to be! In effect achieving their goal/s.
I work with individuals, couples and coaching groups in virtually any aspect of life whether personal, professional or both. Some of these areas include:
Relationships
You might lack confidence, struggle with commitment or need support coping with separation? I work with individuals and couples with issues from dating to marriage, who may have experienced betrayal or brokenness in a relationship. Meeting people where they are at without judgement and looking to the future creates a wonderful context for change.
Career
Coaching in this context focuses on aligning a client’s passions, skills and values with their work. Feeling undervalued, having low mood, feeling unmotivated and unfulfilled in work and changing jobs numerous times, is largely because the work doesn’t tap into our core strengths and passions.
Helping clients discover their calling, strengths, values and desired contributions, helps them align their work or manage a career change or retirement for a more meaningful and fulfilled life.
Wellness
This aspect of coaching is very much about helping my clients create healthy lifestyles and overcoming barriers to living a great life. Having a physically healthy and strong body is crucial to having healthy and stable emotions. When we feel physically and emotionally well, we are more likely to thrive in all areas of our lives and be better equipped to cope with stress and adversities as they happen (which they inevitably to for all of us).
In order to live our best lives – that is living out our purpose with passion - It is so important to have a body free from pain and a mind that is clear and focused. Concentrating on wellness and nutrition, clients begin to understand about how their body can either work for them or against them and become excited to move forward with the process to achieve their wellness goals.
Personal Development
We all go through seasons of feeling as though we’re not making the most of our life. There’s so much that we want to see and do and learn in this world but we so often lack the confidence, time and will power to make our dreams a reality instead staying in our comfort zone and settling for a less fulfilled, meaningful and happy existence. My work in this context is about using specialist skills to motivate client’s to do the things they most want to do, see and achieve and enabling them to fight procrastination and discover a wealth of opportunity outside of their comfort zone!
Performance
Improvement is at the heart of Life Coaching. It always comes back to identifying where you are now and where you want to be. Whatever your skill, life coaching could help improve it – whether you’re an athlete, musician, artist, writer – There is always capacity to improve and progress. Helping clients push their limitations and exceed expectation, not only improves performance but also broadens their perspective as they discover new opportunities that align with their goals.
What I am NOT
I offer coaching or counselling as a talking therapy. I am not a Psychologist or Psychiatrist. I am BSc Hons qualified in developmental psychology, adult mental health, working with children and families, promoting public health and health and social care, and I have the experience, knowledge and ability to work as a professional Wellbeing and Life Coach.
My work focuses on the whole person, helping them to make lifestyle changes that bring them closer to the life they want to live in the context of health, happiness and fulfilment. Life Coaches are not qualified or equipped to manage medically diagnosed conditions from a treatment perspective, and I will always refer or signpost a client to the appropriate professional if I feel this is needed. I can and do work with individuals who have been through or are in the midst of working through specialised counselling or a treatment process, helping them to navigate and make sense of the here and now and plan for a better future.
Sessions can be held in person, or via video conference (such as Zoom).
It can be daunting knowing where to start. I always think a cuppa and a chat is best!
Lyndsay
